RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT

14 OCTOBER 2010

This afternoon the banks remained in the doldrums. Fears that Standard Chartered's rights issue yesterday could be the start of a flood of cash calls has unsettled Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays.

A trading update from Guinness brewer Diageo fell a bit flat. The company, which owns some of the world’s best known spirits brands, posted a 5% organic rise in sales in the third quarter, but warned of weakness in Europe, particularly ailing economies such as Greece and Spain.

WH Smith, the newsagent and bookshop, is in demand after it posted a strong rise in profits and upped its final dividend by a fifth after a record year from its outlets in railway stations and airports. Pre-tax profits in the year to August jumped by 9% from the previous year to £89m, even as revenues slipped to £1.31bn from £1.34bn. A final dividend of 13.3p is proposed, up 18% on the previous year.

Greeting card retailer Clinton Cards is cautious ahead of Christmas after seeing sales decline in the year to August 1 amid fragile consumer confidence. Sales fell to £337m from £340m the previous year, while adjusted pre-tax profits edged up to £13.3m from £12.9m.

Finally, internet fashion retailer ASOS continues to see sales soar as it consolidates its position in the UK and makes strong inroads abroad. Sales in the three months to September 30 rose by 47% from the same period a year ago to £69.7m. UK sales were up 21% to £43.7m while international sales rose by 128% to £26m.

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED ` DOWN 20 @ 5727

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS DOWN 4 @ 11,092

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS UP 2 @ 2443

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 5976

GBP – EUR 1. 1369 ??

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